Paul Assenmacher w/ a bad attitude

Actually, that’s not fair to Assenmacher, who was better than Al Hrabosky, at least as a Brave. And he was more affordable than the Mad Hungarian, signed to a ridiculous (at its time) 5-year, $2.2 million contract prior to the 1980 season.

Geno flopped as the Braves closer in ’79, but Hrabosky wasn’t much better for the Royals. He had a 1.662 WHIP and saw his strikeouts drop from 60 to 39. But Ted liked personalities and was willing to overspend to get one.

Unfortunately, jerks don’t sell tickets, and neither do middling set-up men. Three Braves had more saves than Hrabosky in 1980, including the late Larry Bradford. Hrabosky was released halfway through his contract and never pitched in the majors again.